Lots of beer news has been fermenting in the rusty old tank called my brain, so let me do some cleaning this week:

• First up, Opa Opa's Brewmaster's Tavern in Williamsburg has a lot on tap in the coming months--and not just beer. On St. Patrick's Day, the tavern is offering Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner for only $12.99. The following weekend, on March 22 at 2 p.m. the venue will be celebrating its second anniversary party in the brewery. This party is a thank-you to all patrons supporting the Brewmaster's Tavern. Admission is free and there will be light appetizers and pasta stations, live music, as well as a cash bar, Some women known as the Brew Girls in Saloon Girl costumes, will also be on hand. I'm not sure who they are, but apparently many customers do!

Finally, on April 26 at 3 p.m., Brewmaster's Tavern will be serving a five-course beer dinner in the brewery, with each course paired with a beer. Tickets for this event are already on sale so contact the restaurant to reserve yours, as the event promises to sell out.

• I'll be a judge at a homebrew contest on March 8. Hosted by SPARGE (Springfield Pioneers of Ales and Regal Grand Esters) and Sierra Grille will be hosting a brewing competition with the winning beer being entered into the Great American Beer Festival - Pro-Am competition. A recipe from the winning brewer will be made by Northampton Brewery for the Pro-Am Competition - and even may be served on tap at the brewery. For more information, go to sparge.us/index.php?page=pro-am-comp

• I got a note from the Beer Institute and the Brewers Association last week, applauding members of the U.S. House of Representatives for the introduction of H.R. 836: the Brewers Excise and Economic Relief (BEER) Act. The bill effectively returns the federal beer excise tax back to its pre-1991 level of $9 per barrel. With more than 2,053 brewing companies in the country, breweries are a major job-creating force in every state in the nation. According to the Beer Institute figures, a majority of Americans live within 10 miles of a brewery. In addition to reducing the tax burden on large brewers and beer importers, the legislation introduced today provides specific relief to small brewers by reducing their tax burden from $7 to $3.50 per barrel. So write your congressperson today in support of this measure.

• Speaking of beer and economics, thanks to reader Patrick Rathbun for hipping me to an NPR piece about beer in these bad economic times. You can read about it here: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100528810.
--Another thank-you goes out to reader Bill Mannetti, who prodded me to write a column I've been contemplating for years now: Vegan/vegetarian beers. Since many beers use some sort of animal products in their production, strict vegetarians and vegans are hard-pressed to find brews they can drink. Look for a column on this topic soon.

• Other columns on deck in coming weeks and months: A review of Samuel Adams Imperial series; a chat with Greg Koch, co-founder of Stone Brewing, and, at long last, notes from Budweiser's American Ale and Michelob's Pale Ale panel tasting a few friends and I held earlier this month.